Vegan Chocolate Caramel Sheet Cake

Method (caramel)

1. Place the sugar into a medium / large saucepan. Place the pan on the hob over a low heat. Allow the sugar to melt, this will take around 5 minutes. Don’t burn the sugar! Make sure to stir the sugar constantly to prevent burning. You can use a wooden spoon or heat proof spatula.
2. When all of the sugar has melted and is an golden / amber colour, add in the butter. Be careful, as the sugar is very hot. Remove the pan from the heat and stir to combine. Allow the butter to melt into the sugar. It might bubble but that’s fine. Once it’s combined, it might go a thick consistency, now add in the coconut cream. It will steam and bubble again so be very careful!
3. Add the pan on the heat and allow to simmer for 3-5 minutes to help thicken it up.
4. Remove the pan from the heat. Set aside to cool for 30 minutes, then transfer / pour the caramel into a heat proof jar. Place the jar into the fridge. Allow to chill and and overnight. The caramel will will turn into a toffee consistency. Transfer the thick caramel into a piping bag ready for piping into the cake.

Method (cake)

1. Preheat your oven to 180ºC fan and line an 8 x 8 inch square cake tin with greaseproof paper. Allow the paper to hang over the tin slightly, this makes it easier to remove the cake when baked.
2. In a bowl, combine the dairy-free milk with the apple cider vinegar and whisk until fully combined. Set aside for 10 minutes to curdle. This creates a vegan ‘buttermilk’.
3. In a large mixing bowl, sift the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Mix well to combine. Add the oil into the ‘buttermilk’ and whisk to combine.
4. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix just to combine.
5. Spoon the batter into the lined tin. Level it out with the back of a spoon or offset spatula.
6. Place the cake into the middle of the preheated oven and bake for around 25-30 minutes. You will know it is done when you put a knife or skewer down the middle of the cake and it comes out clean and it’s springy to the touch. If batter comes off on the skewer, it needs more time to bake. To prevent burning, top the cake with some greaseproof paper then return back into the oven.
7. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then carefully transfer onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool fully before filling and frosting. You can even place the cake in a sealed container once cool then frost the day after. It’s a very light sponge so be careful with it when removing from the tin.
8. Once the cake is fully cool to the touch, use the end of a wooden spoon, poke holes into the cake and fill with the caramel sauce. Don’t add too much or it may the cake, but just enough so each slice of cake has a generous amount of hidden caramel.

Method (buttercream)

1. In a large mixing bowl, add in the dairy-free butter, whip until creamy. I use a stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment, a hand mixer will work great too.
2. Sift in the icing sugar and vanilla. Whip on high speed for a couple of minutes to incorporate it. Add a splash of dairy-free milk to get it to a smooth consistency.
3. Remove a few tablespoons of buttercream and spoon into a piping bag fitted with a round tip nozzle, or snip off the tip of a disposable piping bag.
4. Add in the cocoa powder to the rest of the buttercream in the bowl and whip until combined.
5. Spoon the chocolate buttercream on-top of the cake. Using a pallet knife, carefully spread and swirl the buttercream over the entire cake.
6. Use the white buttercream to pipe mini bunny shapes to the top of the cake (watch the video tutorial here for reference).
7. Colour any left over buttercream with some pink food gel, transfer into a piping bag and pipe on the bunny nose and ear details. Use some of the dark buttercream for the eyes.
8. Decorate with some mini vegan chocolate eggs (optional).